Facility Notes

In California, Ben Baeder noted Majestic Realty President & Chair Ed Roski and the state are “embroiled in a legal dispute over a proposed” NFL stadium on the east side of the City of Industry. City officials said that Roski's plans for a 592-acre development depend on $180M "in property tax money.” The money would “pay for infrastructure around the stadium.” The state on Dec. 18 “wrote a letter prohibiting the public money from going toward the development, saying some of the contractual obligations haven't taken place and therefore cannot be enforced.” Roski's lawyer “fired a letter back to the state earlier this month, calling the state's conclusions ‘demonstrably wrong’" (SAN GABRIEL VALLEY TRIBUNE, 2/18).

BUILDING FOR TOMORROW:In South Carolina, Travis Sawchik reported Clemson Univ. is “conducting a feasibility study to determine whether it would be advantageous and economically viable to build a new arena.” The study is “expected to be completed in March.” Clemson AD Dan Radakovich said that the study, which is “receiving counsel from prominent architecture firms, is centered on the concept of an arena with a slightly smaller capacity than" Littlejohn Coliseum’s 10,000 seats. A new basketball home “could cost Clemson approximately" $65-85M, or "more than the Memorial Stadium West Zone project to date” (Charleston POST & COURIER, 2/16).

LONG OVERDUE:In N.Y., Kate Briquelet wrote a TriBeCa museum “dedicated to Jackie Robinson is three years overdue -- and may never open despite spending a fortune on rent.” The Jackie Robinson Foundation "has raised only a fraction" of the $42M "needed to honor the Brooklyn Dodger.” The museum was “first slated to open on the ground floor of One Hudson Square in lower Manhattan in 2010.” Instead, its founders are “paying $500,000 a year to rent a shell where the 11,000-square-foot exhibition is supposed to be” (N.Y. POST, 2/17).

A DIFFERENT KIND OF TURNTABLE:In N.Y., Rich Calder noted Barclays Center is “the buzz of the league because of its one-of-a-kind" $4M elevator and parking system "that transports team buses and players’ cars directly from the street to an area 2 1/2 stories underground.” The massive turntable outside the freight elevators that “holds up to 100,000 pounds, can rotate 360 degrees within four minutes.” Daniel Brooks, who drives visiting team buses to the arena, said that he “can’t count how many players’ jaws have dropped" after their parking experience (N.Y. POST, 2/18).